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stamped concrete problem

We had this stamped concrete placed- cobblestone and not happy with the look. We need to know if this is typical.
We love the color and look of stamped concrete. I've been told by our contractor that they do not recommend us doing this again. Is doing stamped concrete that hard?
We are trying to figure out alternatives to fix this. they can't cut it out as all the sections have something wrong w/ them. 2nd imprints that were accidently placed over existing and smudged areas b/c the concrete was still wet when the stamp was removed.
We are thinking of overlay or placing stone on top so we don't have to rip everything out. Any one have any suggestions what else to do?

Re: stamped concrete problem

Stamped concrete can also be blended with other decorative concrete elements such as exposed aggregate finishes and acid-etch staining, along with a particular pattern, such as running bond brick, hexagonal tile, worn rock or stone.

Re: stamped concrete problem

nick b is correct. its pretty common for newly placed concrete to scale or "flake" if it was placed in colder weather and the proper precaustions werent taken such as covering it with insulated tarps and or having a heater present to keep the surface water from freezing

Re: stamped concrete problem

if that work was done recently i think you hired a contractor who didn't know what he was doing and you should make him fix the problem even if it means ripping up the whole thing and redoing it. if one of my men did something like that i would make sure that the problem was rectified and the customer was happy even if i lost money on the job.

Re: stamped concrete problem

mind youits not always the contractor, 2 years ago we poured concrete twice in the winter which turned out bad, all the right steps were taken but turned out we got a bad batch from the plant.
we had such an issue with a slab 8 years ago, the job called for a shed be built on a slab but the homeowner changed their mind 3 times where they wanted the shed. when they finally made up their mind it was winter and we specically told the homeowner to wait til spring at this point. homeowner insisted on the shed being built right away, it was done but the slab was bad then tried suing us.. put it this way the shed cost more than it should have for the homeowner

Re: stamped concrete problem

i'll buy the faulty concrete problem, that's possible. but the point being, concrete plant, weather conditions, additives, etc. it all falls on the contractor. it's not the customers fault where the concrete came from, the weather, the mixing ratios, the tools used. it's our job to do a job correctly. the only possible out that this contractor can possibly have is if the owner asked for this job to be done on a 20 degree day and if he insisted on using a particular concrete plant. if i build a house and a main glue lam fails, it's not the customers fault because it wasn't manufactured properly. the contractor can complain to the concrete company and maybe get a free batch for the redo.

Re: stamped concrete problem

Lots of good insight on here. There are so many problems. I have stated on other posts, concrete is at the mercy of mother nature and only follows murphy's law. It can be tough, but good contractors know how to best deal with the conditions at hand and do their best to mitigate the issues that can be caused. Cold weather is beter than hot when it comes to stamping. It gives you time and unless there is extreme cold(25 and below) few issues will arise.
Hot weather, as mentioned, brings several issues. Running out of time while stamping is a terrible feeling and can be hopeless. It happens and you end up with mildly textured concrete and micro tearing from beating the stamps into the surface! Double stamping is user error. A contractor telling you they don't recommend stamped concrete again is user error. They are not the right contractors for the job. There are plenty of good ones out there, just do your research. Whatever you do, do not judge stamped concrete by seeing a bad job. There are many, many bad jobs out there and please do not judge an entire industry by that. Go on the web and do a search for stamped concrete pics and you will find a host of great looks to keep you interested.
In the case of this poster, doing a tear out and repour/stamp or scarify the top and do a nice stamped overlay.